1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to remote control devices. More particularly, this invention relates to identifying codes for controlling electronic devices remotely.
2. Background
The controlling of electronic devices such as audio and video equipment via remote control s has become common practice. These remote controls typically transfer control codes to the electronic devices via infrared signals in order to activate various functions of the devices. However, manufacturers of electronic devices are able to define their own protocols as well as control codes for operation of their remote controls and devices, thereby requiring use of either their proprietary remote controls or the use of another remote control which knows the devices protocols and control codes. Thus, it would be beneficial to provide a single remote control device which is able to control multiple electronic devices without regard for the manufacturers of the electronic devices.
One solution to this problem is a user-programmable remote control. With a user programmable remote control, the user is able to manually input a particular code to the remote control which identifies the electronic device to the remote control. However, this solution requires the user to lookup the proper code in an instruction manual, and often times requires the user to manually enter multiple codes before the proper code is finally input. Thus, it would be beneficial to provide a way to reduce the amount of complexity and hassle on the part of a user in setting up control of different devices from a remote control.
Another solution to this problem is referred to as a xe2x80x9clearningxe2x80x9d remote control. Typically, a learning remote control learns the codes used by a particular manufacturer""s remote control by having the user point the manufacturer""s remote control at the learning remote control; press one of the buttons on the manufacturer""s remote control, and then tell the learning remote control which button was pressed so that it can xe2x80x9clearnxe2x80x9d the code used by that manufacturer""s remote control for that button. However, this learning process requires additional time and complexity for the user, as well as requires the availability of the original manufacturer""s remote control in working order. Thus, it would be beneficial to provide a way to reduce the amount of complexity and hassle on the part of the user, as well as remove the need for the original manufacturer""s remote control, in setting up control of different devices from a remote control.
Additionally, a current trend in the electronics and computer industry is the convergence of computers and electronic devices. This convergence is resulting towards more computer-controlled electronic devices, such as television sets. As this convergence continues, it will become more and more beneficial to provide an effective way to remotely control multiple electronic devices from a computer system. Given that such a computer control system will need to be set up to control the multiple electronic devices, it would be beneficial to provide a way for users to easily set up a control system to remotely control these electronic devices.
As will b described in more detail below, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for identifying codes for remotely controlling electronic devices via a wireless communication medium which achieves these and other desired results which will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the description that follows.
A method and apparatus for controlling the operation of electronic entertainment devices in an entertainment system is described herein. A hardware system is coupled to a plurality of electronic entertainment devices to receive and transmit audio-video signals Transmit logic is. coupled through a digital computer interface, preferably a SCSI interface, to the hardware system. The transmit logic has a plurality of ports and a memory associated with each port for storing control data sequences for each respective port. Each port is independently addressable by the hardware system A plurality of transmitters, each coupled to a respective one of the transmit logic ports transmits the respective stored control data sequences to respective ones of the electronic devices. In a preferred embodiment, the hardware system has a microprocessor, user interface and system memory and the transmitters are infrared light transmitters, one of which is a blaster transmitter for transmitting control data sequences simultaneously in multiple directions.